hippopotamus

[ hip-uh-pot-uh-muhs ]
See synonyms for hippopotamus on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural hip·po·pot·a·mus·es, hip·po·pot·a·mi [hip-uh-pot-uh-mahy]. /ˌhɪp əˈpɒt əˌmaɪ/.
  1. a large herbivorous mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, having a thick hairless body, short legs, and a large head and muzzle, found in and near the rivers, lakes, etc., of Africa, and able to remain under water for a considerable time.

Origin of hippopotamus

1
1555–65; <Latin <Greek hippopótamos, earlier híppos potámios literally, riverine horse (term used by Herodotus in his account of the Egyptian hippopotamus); compare Middle English ypotame, ypotamos, ypotanus<Old French ypotame<Medieval Latin ypotamus

Other words from hippopotamus

  • hip·po·po·tam·ic [hip-uh-puh-tam-ik], /ˌhɪp ə pəˈtæm ɪk/, hip·po·po·ta·mi·an [hip-uh-puh-tey-mee-uhn], /ˌhɪp ə pəˈteɪ mi ən/, adjective

Words Nearby hippopotamus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hippopotamus in a sentence

  • It was a hippopotamus which had been standing on the river-brink within six yards of the muzzle of his gun.

    Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
  • He aimed at the yawning hippopotamus and fired, hitting it on the skull, but at such an angle that the ball glanced off.

    Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
  • He was as successful as he was brave, and he had the great good luck to meet a tiger, a young hippopotamus, and a boa constrictor.

  • It was voted by acclamation, that hippopotamus was agreeable to the company.

  • Let's play I'm a hippopotamus, and you're a little yellow chicken, and I'm trying to catch you and eat you up.

    Marjorie's Busy Days | Carolyn Wells

British Dictionary definitions for hippopotamus

hippopotamus

/ (ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs) /


nounplural -muses or -mi (-ˌmaɪ)
  1. a very large massive gregarious artiodactyl mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, living in or around the rivers of tropical Africa: family Hippopotamidae. It has short legs and a thick skin sparsely covered with hair

  2. pigmy hippopotamus a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis

Origin of hippopotamus

1
C16: from Latin, from Greek hippopotamos river horse, from hippos horse + potamos river

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012